Hope for the flowers is a very inspiring and encouraging book. Do you feel so down right now? Well reading this book uncovers great discovery about life. It just did on mine.
First, I'll tell it's story. Then I'll tell mine.
Well, what I'm about to say is that, I think I can relate to that book. When Stripe was just a caterpillar, he enjoys his life doing just about anything.. but when he started growing up, he realized that there must be something more about life than just eating and sleeping.Then he saw piles of caterpillars gathered by groups. Why are these caterpillars so busy climbing up? They all want to be on the top that they push and step on their fellows just to reach the top. But stripe can't see what's on the top as it is covered by the clouds. There must be something there...
Along his way up, he met Yellow, another caterpillar. They became friends and they became attached to each other until they became lovers. They climbed down and decided to live in peace and just simply enjoy each other's company.
But something inside Stripe was lingering. He still can't stop thinking about what's on the top that everybody's so busy about getting there. There must be something more than just eating, sleeping, and making love. At first, it was hard for him to decide. Until he finally decided to reach his goal and leave Yellow in misery.
On the other hand, Yellow knew deep inside that there must be something more than what is on that top. There must be something more than pushing and stepping on her fellow caterpillars; spending everyday of her life not thinking about other caterpillars just to reach her goal... watching them slowly and brutally die as they fall.
Then Yellow met a caterpillar along the way. He taught her to become a butterfly. She had certain doubts at first, but she took the risk as she believed. She became a butterfly and she made sure Stripe would become one too.
It was a happy ending for them as Yellow succeeded in making Stripe finally understand that they won't stay that way forever. They will soon transform into wonderful creatures living a happy life.. only if they believed, obey, and allow themselves to be transformed.
Faith, Obedience, Transformation..
So there you go, I actually paraphrased the story of one of my favorite books. In that story, I feel like I am Stripe. I'm so confused.. I'm so confused about my plans. What if the Lord has something better?
Like the caterpillars on that pile, most people have one goal: to reach the top or to be on the top. people get tired spending their time earning and working for a better life--popularity, fame, becoming rich, reaching these goals and that... material things...
Sure it's a fun and challenging part of our lives. But have we ask ourselves, "must there be something more?" Some goals are not worthy to be reached and get all our attention.
Even Yellow has no idea what glorious creature she could become. She simply trusted and took the risk--banishing her doubts and fears away.
What does it mean to trust God? Hadn't I trusted God? Would I know and gradually draw nearer to His perfect will? What does Jeremiah 29:11 say? What does Isaiah 43:10 say? Does God promise and not fulfill? Does He speak and then not act? (Numbers 23:19) God's ways are not my ways, nor His thoughts are my thoughts. What fool I am to limit God and His plans.
I know that I should simply trust God. I must remove my doubts and fears. Should I make major decisions and adjust my life to His plan? That's what it means to trust Him right?
While people everywhere are busy with their lives and it seems like the world has something better in store for them, are their goals worth fighting for?
I should know what should I be busy for. I must not be seeking to find treasures and temporary pleasures in this world. I must seek for something eternal. Something far more important and not instant. There must be really something more. So help me God...
How about you?
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Hope for the Flowers - Trina Paulus
Posted by Janna Sevilla at 10:17 PM 0 comments
Labels: book reviews/excerpts
Thursday, January 6, 2011
LIFE: Then and Now
I don't really know what to blog about.
I'ts just that I need to do something to stop worrying like paranoid .
Whenever I look back to my childhood days,
there are a lot of memories.
Some are good, some are not so good.
Before, I've been trying to erase those bad memories and keep only the good ones.
But recently, I realized that you can not erase memories.
Not unless you've had amnesia or mental something.
But I don't have. And I don't wish to have neither. n,n
No, you can't erase them,
But you can change the way you feel about them.
you've probably heard the quote,
"Trials can make you BITTER or BETTER."
Well, not only trials..
But everything that happens in your life.
It's all about perspective and attitude, as John Maxwell said.
I'm just trying to remind myself how I used to be when I was a child
And how had God changed me gradually as I'm growing up.
Whenever I try to look back to what I am before to what I am now,
I can see two different people. (In terms of maturity level)
But I won't be here.. I won't definitely survive,
If it isn't for God.
Many times, I've committed sins.
A lot of times, I've uttered words I didn't mean to.
I've been always saying,
"Take my Life, I wanna end it".
Yet wondering why I'm still alive.
And later on.. I can feel something.
Something I can't really explain, but I know that it's from God.
He keeps on reminding me this verse,
"For I have not given you a spirit of fear"
How foolish of me to easily give up and lose hope!
Not realizing how these problems have made me grow and learn.
When I was a child I easily cry when someone gets my candy because I feel like it's already the end of the world.
I just laugh whenever I remember that experience.
pretty little spoiled brat.
Recently, I've cried over something I thought I have.
I'm excited for the day when I'll laugh about it.
I can't wait for the new challenges to unfold..
where I can see a bigger, better, stronger, braver me.
What about you?
Posted by Janna Sevilla at 11:11 PM 0 comments
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